Around the NFL: Math favors the Browns

Sunday

Jul 6, 2014 at 1:00 AM

Browns fans know the drill: Draft higher than the rest of the division, but land less players. If, however, Ray Farmer got it right, Cleveland should be catching up to the Bengals, Steelers and Ravens. A relative look at the teams' picks.

Steve Doerschuk CantonRep.com sports writer @sdoerschukREP

Before the draft, we listed the scheduled order of picks among AFC North teams.

The Browns were in a highly advantageous position relative to the Bengals, Steelers and Ravens.

Trades shuffled the deck quite a bit, but the Browns still carried a big upper hand mathematically within the money rounds, 1 through 4.

Here’s a quick AFC North look at where the rookies gearing up for training camps were selected:

• No. 8, BROWNS, CB Justin Gilbert, Oklahoma State

• No. 15, Steelers, LB Ryan Shazier, Ohio State

• No. 17, Ravens, LB C.J. Mosley, Alabama

• No. 22, BROWNS, QB Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M

• No. 24, Bengals CB Darqueze Dennard, Michigan State

• No. 35, BROWNS, OL Joel Bitonio, Nevada

• No. 46, Steelers, DE Stephon Tuitt, Notre Dame

• No. 48, Ravens, DT Timmy Jernigan, Florida State

• No. 55, Bengals, RB Jeremy Hill, LSU

• No. 71, BROWNS, LB Christian Kirksey, Iowa

• No. 79, Ravens, DB Terrence Brooks, Florida State

• No. 88, Bengals, DE Will Clarke, West Virginia

• No. 94, BROWNS, RB Terrance West, Towson

• No. 97, Steelers, RB Dri Archer, Kent State

• No. 99, Ravens, TE Crockett Gilmore, Colorado State

• No. 111, Bengals, C Russell Bodine, North Carolina

• No. 118, Steelers, WR Matavis Bryant, Clemson

• No. 127, BROWNS, CB Pierre Desir, Lindenwood

• No. 134, Ravens, DT Brent Urban, Virginia

• No. 138, Ravens, RB Lorenzo Taliaferro, Coastal Carolina

If Ray Farmer is the kind of general manager the Browns need, this list will work to the team’s advantage, starting Sept. 7 against the Steelers.

Farmer’s first pick was seven spots higher than Pittsburgh GM Kevin Colbert’s. His second pick was 24 spots higher than the Steelers’ second pick. His third and fourth picks were 62 and 47 spots higher than Pittsburgh’s.

By the time Farmer had made five picks, Colbert had made only two.

Similarly, Farmer needs to have made the math work against Ozzie Newsome, whose Ravens will be in Cleveland Sept. 21.

Farmer gambled in trading his way from 10 picks to only six. All six selections were in the bank before Baltimore made its fifth pick. The average position of the Browns’ first four picks was No. 34. The average position of the Ravens’ top four was 60.

Relative to defending AFC North champ Cincinnati, the Browns had three picks in the top 35; the Bengals had one.

Cleveland’s first three picks were at No. 8, No. 22 and No. 35. Cincinnati’s were at No. 24, No. 55 and No. 88.

Overall, five of the division’s first 13 choices were Cleveland’s.

Higher draft picks are supposed to be better, right? Teams constantly trade up for a reason, no?

We know the Browns have managed to get this formula wrong all too often. Farmer is a new sheriff, though, and if he drafted well, enforcement of the laws of mathematics could be very good to Cleveland.

JOHNNY THROWBACK

Johnny Manziel is the new-wave rage, but there are plenty of old-school guys who love what he might bring to the Browns.

Vince Costello, a Browns Legends member who was in Stark County for a recent visit, told family members he likes Manziel’s footwork, decision making and sixth sense.

But what about all his scrambling? What if he gets hurt?

Vince’s reply: “What if he doesn’t?”

During Super Bowl week, I bumped into 1980s Browns guard Joe DeLamielleure at a Times Square hotel. After we shook hands, the first thing the Pro Football Hall of Famer said about his old team, the Browns, was, “They should draft Manziel.”

• In case you forgot, Mel Kiper had Johnny Manziel going to the Browns at No. 4.

AT THE MOVIES

And a fond farewell to Sonny Weaver Jr. ...

“Draft Day” closed nationally, with gross U.S. receipts of $28,842,237. It is still in some Ohio theaters.

According to movie-ranking authority Box Office Mojo, Draft Day is No. 15 all-time in football-movie receipts. It is No. 2 among football films released in the last five years, just a bit behind No. 1 “The Blind Side” ($256 million).

• Curious about the tree from which the Browns’ big apple fell?

Mike Pettine Sr. and Mike Pettine Jr. are featured in The Last Game, a 2002 documentary about the father and son who became rival Pennsylvania high school football coaches.

Salty language is one reason it was rated PG-13, rather than PG.

We found available copies on Amazon, priced from $9.45 (used) to $70.98 (does not include lunch with the Pettines).

OSU AND NFL

• Browns fans may remember new Ohio State head coach Larry Johnson as Courtney Brown’s position coach at Penn State.

Cleveland made Brown the first pick of the 2000 draft. Johnson, 62, coached at Penn State from 1996 through 2013 before jumping to the Buckeyes.